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To help a friend who's doing research on brain activity or something like that, I've recently started a second career as guinea pig. After having had to look at 250 fluorescent green lines, I can tell you it's not a particularly pleasant way to spend your time.

Before I could participate in the test, I was first strapped tight into a device most closely resembling a cross between Blade Runner's Voigt-Kampff machine and Hannibal Lecter's hockey mask. Then I had to stare at a full-screen blow-up of my own right eye for half an hour while the friend calibrated the cameras on aforementioned torture device. After that the real horror started, as the room was placed in total darkness, with the exception of one computer screen.

On it, a little crossmark appeared in the center of the screen, which I had to intently focus on. Then it disappeared, and a horizontal green line appeared, with on it a vertical green line, and then I had to indicate whether the vertical line was to the left or to the right of the center. After that I had to focus on the crossmark again, and repeat the excercise. This wouldn't have been so bad if the test didn't require me to stay absolutely focused on the place where the crossmark had appeared, and it was set up so strictly that if my pupil wandered away even a millimeter it blared a warning and I had to redo the green line. With the warning appearing once every two or three lines, I was soon getting ready to start using the crossmark for target practice.

Unfortunately I agreed to take part in the whole series of tests, so this week I have to come back for another 250 lines, and then they'll be examining something they call the 'allocentric' parts of my brain. You know what they examined during this first session? The 'egocentric' parts of my brain. It's a good thing they only told me that after the fact - if I'd had heard that while I was busy sacrificing myself in the name of science and being strapped in the Helmet of Hellish Torture I'd have been out of the room in no time.

Trek BBS Today

Below are some of the topics currently being discussed at the Trek BBS:

-Why wasn't the Original Series shown in production order when it first aired on NBC?

Below are some of the most important headlines that appeared on TrekToday on Thursday the 25th of March, 1999:

The Future of TV Trek - The first official rumblings on Series V appeared, with the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune reporting Rick Berman would be ready to launch another Trek series after Voyager's end. "If Rick Berman said Voyager was the last one," Jeri Ryan said, "I wouldn't believe him for a million dollars. It's an absolute cash cow."

German Insurrection News - The Flagship reported that 'Insurrection' would be released on video in July 1999, and also passed on a report saying that "Blueman Publishing is planning to soon release several CD-ROMs relating to Trek properties." These would include CDs about Insurrection, First Contact and Voyager, and would contain interviews, behind-the-scenes info and multimedia. Whatever happened with these CDs is unclear - I don't think we ever heard anything more about them.

Hello World! - This was easily one of the most exciting days in TrekToday history we'd had so far, as the day earlier we'd become a Netscape 'New to the Net' site of the day. The visitor count absolutely exploded, from just 200 visitors per day to well over a thousand. Of course, after that it came down a bit again, but we still ended up with about 500 daily visitors after that. Of course, that's nothing compared to what we get now, but percentage-wise, that's still the biggest traffic spike we've ever had.

Which character in the rumoured Series V casting sheet looks the most interesting?

Sub-Commander T'Pau

33.3% - (509
Votes)

Captain Jackson Archer

28.9% - (442
Votes)

Doctor Phlox

17.9% - (273
Votes)

Ensign Hoshi Sato

6.3% - (97
Votes)

Commander Charlie 'Spike' Tucker

6% - (93
Votes)

Lt. Commander Malcolm Reed

4.8% - (74
Votes)

Lieutenant Joe Mayweather

2.4% - (37
Votes)

Total Votes: 1525

,Thanks for voting!

The new poll will likely be the final such poll we're able to run on TrekToday, as it asks you which of the episodes leading up to the finale you're most looking forward to:,

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Today's Television Listings

The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series episode 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' at 10:00am Eastern Time.

In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series' 'The Paradise Syndrome' at 10:00am Eastern Time and TNG's 'Emergence' at 11:00am.

In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing three TNG episodes, beginning at 14:00 GMT with 'Allegiance', followed at 15:00 by 'Captain's Holiday' and at 16:00 by 'Tin Man'.
Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing the Original Series episode 'The Mark of Gideon' at 5:00pm Eastern Time.

In Canada, Space! will be showing the Original Series episode 'And The Children Shall Lead' at 10:00am Eastern Time, TNG's 'Preemptive Strike' at 12:00pm, 'And The Children Shall Lead' again at 4:00pm, DS9's 'It's Only A Paper Moon' at 5:00pm and Voyager's 'Heroes and Demons' at 10:00pm.

In the United Kingdom, Sky One will be showing DS9's 'Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places' at 17:00 and at 23:30 GMT, and Voyager's 'Inside Man' at 20:00. At 23:00, home shopping channel QVC will be showing a Star Trek special.
Thanks go out to the Great Link for this!

In the Netherlands, Veronica will be showing DS9's 'A Simple Investigation' at 17:10 CET, while Net5 will be showing TNG's 'Initiations' at 18:35.
Thanks go out to StarTrek.nl for this!